Hype Textile Printing Company Grows With Epson Monna Lisa 8000

Hype is a digital textile printing company based in Argentina that uses pigment ink. The company was co-founded in 2018 by General Director Matías Feldman and Design and Product Manager Maria Victoria Froglia, both bringing over 15 years of experience in the textile industry. Marcelo Srur serves as the financial manager.

The Monna Lisa 8000

It launched with three people—working seven days a week— and quickly attracted an increasing number of customers. The rise in the popularity of clothing sales via social media during the pandemic provided a significant boost to the business, facilitating the establishment of partnerships with major customers. Hype maintained one policy: all customers are treated equally; they are all important.

In the early stages, Hype operated two printers from a different brand, distinct from Epson. “Small printers have limited printing capacity and demand more oversight from the staff. Part of the process is manual, such as loading and unloading the fabrics, as well as verifying everything that is needed to print. As customer orders began to exceed our projected volumes and require extended production times, we needed a significant increase in capacity to meet the growing demand. The challenge in terms of production was to improve volume, quality and consistency,” says Froglia. Therefore, in April 2023, Hype took an important leap forward by installing Epson’s flagship product, the Monna Lisa 8000.

The Monna Lisa 8000 by Epson is a high-performance digital direct-to-fabric textile printer featuring eight 4.7-inch PrecisionCore printheads that deliver crisp, accurate, professional quality at print speeds of up to 1,744 ft2/hr1. Capable of accurately reproducing intricate patterns, color gradients and fine details on a wide array of fabrics at astonishing speeds, the Monna Lisa 8000 leverages Epson’s most advanced imaging technologies. Engineered for enhanced productivity, it minimizes downtime and simplifies maintenance, boasting exceptional accessibility to high-performance direct printing on fabric. The Monna Lisa 8000 elevates production capabilities and color quality on fabrics to unprecedented levels.

“The Monna Lisa 8000 produced 20,000 square yards in its first full month [May 2023] and nearly 47,000 square yards in December 2023. This growth was not only staggering in terms of quantity but also underscored by its consistency. Thanks to its self-cleaning mechanism, the machine maintains uniform quality, vibrant color saturation, and crisp design sharpness throughout its operation," said Maria Victoria, the Froglia Design and Product Manager at Hype

Another significant aspect for Hype is its commitment to reducing the company’s environmental footprint. It only uses natural fibers, such as cotton and linen, including both woven fabric and knit variations. In alignment with their environmental objectives, this digital fabric printer plays a major role, offering substantial reductions in water consumption compared to traditional printing methods. Digital printing technology can save on water usage by up to 96% vs. dye-based analog printing alternatives.

In addition, the Monna Lisa 8000 printer boasts eight colors, significantly broadening the spectrum of colors and possibilities for Hype. This expanded range facilitated their exploration into printing on natural silk, jacquard, denim and other fabrics that were inaccessible with its prior printers.

While Hype’s founders agree that service, quality, and productivity are great features of the Monna Lisa printer, it’s the customer response that it has found most remarkable since the installation. Positive customer feedback has served as a crucial metric to substantiating the benefits of streamlining the company’s production process.

“Two key findings emerged from our year-end analysis of commercial customer growth and retention. First, we observed a remarkable 35% increase in our customer base from one year to the next. Secondly, our retention rate exceeded 70%, bearing in mind that the remaining customers left due to reasons other than the performance of our company," said Matías Feldman.

Hype currently has a portfolio of approximately 470 customers, ranging from ambitious entrepreneurs to industry-leading brands and medium-to-large-size enterprises and wholesalers. Its primary market is clothing for children and babies. It also operates in the home decor sector and is experiencing growth within the fashion industry.

Regarding future endeavors, the Hype team installed a second Monna Lisa printer in March 2024 and are actively engaged in negotiations with potential customers in Uruguay and Paraguay. Additionally, they are developing an online sales unit named “Print on Demand,” which enables customers to print low quantities on several bases and conveniently ship them worldwide.

Source: Epson

The preceding press release was provided by a company unaffiliated with Wide-format Impressions. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of Wide-format Impressions.